


Off the Air

by Wynterstale



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 05:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1115941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wynterstale/pseuds/Wynterstale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oh, the things one had to do for some good publicity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Off the Air

**Author's Note:**

> Let's ignore the epilogue and Fred's death, because this is fanfiction and we can!

“Word has reached us that Kingsley Shacklebolt will issue an official statement regarding the rumoured abolishment of Hit Wizards from the Ministry later today. The Minister of Magic has been under-fire ever since his controversial reorganisation of ministry structures began a few months ago. Just last week former ministry employee Benedict Sott turned to the public, declaring that his sacking from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was part of a grander scheme, aiming at ultimately deconstructing and integrating Magical Law Enforcement into some form of new secret organization. Others have joined the public discussion since, many claiming that the real reason for Scott’s sacking was a substance abuse problem leading to bouts of paranoia. I think it’s safe to say we’re all anticipating the Minister’s statement and are hoping for more information regarding the future of the whole Ministry, not only the matter of Hit Wizards. What are Hit Wizards anyway? Not much is known about them, but I think we can all agree that “Hit Wizard” sounds decidedly more badass than “Auror”. Are they more badass than Aurors? Is that even possible? That will be our question for the morning – what do you think it is exactly that Hit Wizards do, how cool are they and where were they during the war if not fighting with Harry Potter? Well, technically that’s more than one question but let’s not be petty. Send us an owl and tell us your thoughts!”  
Ginny Weasley watched Lee Jordan flick his wand and the first notes of a song by The Whispering Mandrakes – the newest musical rage in wizarding Britain – began to softly fill the studio. She was currently standing outside his recording booth at WBC Broadcasting. The station was situated in Muggle London, hidden from Muggles much like St. Mungo’s Hospital, using spells to make the building appear as a condemned apartment complex on the outskirts of North London. She had arrived just ten minutes ago, actually having taken the tube here instead of simply Apparating or Flooing in. Both Hermione and Harry thought it was extremely weird how much she enjoyed London’s public transport; they said it was one of the things they absolutely didn’t miss in the Wizarding World. Ginny on the other hand thought it was a very exciting way of travelling. Plus, she enjoyed watching people and public transportation was perfect for that. The only thing she still had trouble with was estimating how long a trip via tube could take. She always had fun planning out routes but more often than not delayed trains forced her to depart from her carefully laid out plans and she found herself running late or, which was even more frustrating, lost someplace strange.  
She guessed she really should just have Apparated today. She had never been in this part of town though and hadn’t been able to resist the promise of a long tube ride. It was eight am on a Monday and she had to get up at five to be here on time. As a result she felt slightly chewed out and not at all prepared to get involved in the battle of wits that she knew Lee Jordan’s morning show on WBC Radio 1 could easily turn into. He was still very close to her brothers Fred and George, even 10 years after graduating from Hogwarts – or, in the twins’ case, flying out of Hogwarts with a bang. Ginny herself hadn’t seen him in close to two years, having been extremely busy with her change from the Holyhead Harpies to Puddlemere United last year and the growing public exposal that came with it. Training was rough, but she had had to learn that all the attention that came with being a professional Quidditch Player for one of the most successful teams in the league’s history could be even more strenuous.  
In theory it was simple: The public loved you when you scored lots of goals and did whatever they expected you to do. They didn’t, however, love you very much anymore once the Daily Prophet started to widely publicize your “horrid break up” with Harry Potter and “evil gold-digging schemes”. Harry and she had called it quits on their relationship shortly after her move to Puddlemere and had miraculously managed to keep it a secret from the greater wizarding public and avoid ugly press for a while. Eventually, of course, the bomb had dropped and they never even could have expected the impact it would have on their lives. Or, more precisely, her life. Harry was still well-loved by everyone. It was Ginny who was painted as the new public enemy, breaking The Boy Who Lived’s heart. How dare she throw away a man like that? Who did she think she was? It was much like what had happened to Hermione during her fourth year, when that terrible hack Rita Skeeter had made up stories about her two-timing him with Victor Krum. But unlike Hermione back then Ginny was now very much a public figure as well. She had been captain of the Holyhead Harpies before going to Puddlemere and had even been the face of a few wizarding fashion campaigns in the last few years. Not to mention her status as Harry Potter’s long-time girlfriend. When their relationship had ended after 7 years, every wizard and witch in Britain had felt like they had stock in it. She probably wouldn’t have minded the bad press so much if the newspapers hadn’t insisted on dragging her family into it as well. So when her Manager at Puddlemere had presented her with a scheme of getting her public image back on track a few weeks ago, she had agreed to it.  
It was quite a straight-forward plan, actually: Give a hand-full of interviews to selected magazines and be sure to make it clear that the break-up had been amicable and well thought through. Harry had also agreed to give an interview or two. Things were still weird between them but the facts that Harry was part of her family and they still cared about each other ensured that they had agreed to stay friends and be there for each other. So Harry had wanted to help once public opinion had turned against Ginny and the Weasleys. He was now working as an Auror for the Ministry and cooperating very closely with Shacklebolt (who was in fact planning on reconstructing Magical Law Enforcement as a whole) and tried to stay clear of the press as best as he could. The fact that he was willing to give interviews concerning his private life to help her out made her feel extremely grateful.  
Her damaged reputation was also the reason she was here at WBC today. Lee Jordan’s morning show was the most listened to programme outside of the Wizarding Wireless Network. Lee had worked at the WWN until after the war but had then left the largely Ministry controlled network to pursue a career at a more liberal station. He had sent her a surprisingly official owl post a few days ago, offering to have her as a guest on his show. He had also promised not to ask about Harry unless she wanted to talk about it and to instead try and expose his listeners to her funny, personal side. She and her manager had talked it over and they had agreed it was a good idea. She was in fact also going to be a guest on his monthly Caught in a Lie special next week. Once a month Lee and a hand full well-known witches and wizards sat down together for two hours and told each other lies and truths about their lives. The other people then had to guess whether that person was lying or not. It was a risk to go on a show like that in her current situation, she was well aware of that, but her manager had said that since it was such a popular programme it was sure to buy her bonus points with the listeners. And she had signed a contract with the station, ensuring that Harry Potter wasn’t going to be mentioned unless it was her doing so.  
A voice next to her broke her reverie.  
“Gin, you look great!”  
She actually jumped a bit. She had been too busy thinking about the upcoming programme to realise Lee had left the booth and joined her on the other side of the glass where his producer Matt was currently sorting through a large pile of parchments, mumbling something about chaos and genius.  
“Hello Lee, it’s good seeing you,” she greeted him with a smile and was engulfed in a big hug. She was glad to see he hadn’t changed much since she had last met him. He was still tall and somewhat lanky with a big grin on his face that had always reminded her of her prankster brothers. There had actually been times when they were younger when people joked about Lee being their lost triplet. The only thing that had surprised her upon being led into the studio by Matt earlier had been the absence of his dreadlocks. He had had them since his early teenage years and they had become somewhat of a trademark of his in her mind. He must have cut them off sometime during the last two years however and now kept his hair buzzed short. She thought it suited him though, it made him look more grown up somehow.  
“Thanks for agreeing to coming on the show. I’m sure it’ll be fun,” he said with a smile.  
That comment made her roll her eyes. She was sure it was going to be fun for him.  
“I do listen to your programme, you know, like most people do. I’ll warn you now not to do to me what you did to Miriam when she came on the show.”  
Miriam Fleck had been one of her team mates at the Holyhead Harpies and a guest at the show a few months back. Lee had teased her mercilessly about various aspects of her private life, causing her to involuntarily blurt out that she was engaged to famous Quidditch Keeper Oliver Wood, something they had been trying to keep a secret at all costs. He was sneaky like that. Mrs. Weasley had actually remarked on more than one occasion that his interrogating methods and backhanded interview techniques befitted a reporter of the Daily Prophet. Ginny was sure that there was a compliment hidden in there somewhere.  
He gave her an innocent look, “I don’t know what you mean.”  
“You promised to help me. Please don’t prank or trick me today.”  
Lee held up his hands in mock surrender, “How can I resist a smile like that?”  
She was pretty sure she hadn’t been smiling and could feel her face turn even sourer. She was usually a good sport when it came to jokes and pranks. Growing up with Fred and George had made that a necessity. It was either go with the flow or despair over it like Ron and Percy had. But this was important not only for her but her family as well. Weasley Wizarding Wheezes was going well but if this mess got any worse it might very well damage their reputation as well.  
“Lee…”  
He dropped the act and put a hand on her shoulder, looking her directly in the eye, “You’re Fred and George’s sister and I’ve known you since you were 8. I wouldn’t have asked you on the show if I didn’t want to help you out. You can trust me.”  
Lee had to get into the booth a few minutes later and do one last monologue about other news besides Shacklebolt’s possible plans for the Ministry and then it was time for 30 minutes non-stop music. They used that time to talk about the impending interview. Ginny would have liked to do that earlier but she had been too busy with training as the season was about to start again.  
They were sitting inside his booth, drinking coffee and discussing possible questions.  
“I don’t want to narrow it down too much,” he was saying, “I don’t want it to feel like we’re reading off a script. I also want to give you a bit of room to be spontaneous. From what I remember you can be very quick-witted and feisty,” he winked at her and she had to laugh. She briefly wondered if he remembered that one time during her second year when she had accidentally walked into one of the twins’ pranks and she had given them all a piece of her mind. She had, of course, still gotten her revenge during the following summer holidays.  
“We should talk a bit about your time at Hogwarts,” he continued as if he was reading her mind, “Oh, and that Christmas Party at WWW three years ago when you got so drunk you-“  
“No,” she immediately interrupted him. She knew that it was important choke off any strange ideas he might be having right from the get-go. He was too much like her brothers – a prankster by nature. He might end up getting her into a bind without really meaning to.  
“That should go on the list of things we don’t talk about.”  
He looked a bit disappointed. “All right then. What about Harry? I’m sorry by the way, the twins told me after it happened. Real shame.”  
She usually got annoyed these days when people voiced their opinions on her now dead relationship, but the way Lee said it made it sound like it wasn’t that important after all. It was sad but did it matter in the grand scheme of things? It’s not like hers was the first relationship to evaporate in the history of mankind. Things like that happened. It was a real relief to have someone not treat it like the End of True Love as We Know It for once. People usually made her feel like she had somehow cheated them out of something by breaking up with Harry.  
She had been very sad when she and Harry had broken up and it had felt like the end of all things for a while but the end of their relationship had also been the beginning of her recovery. Their last few months together had been worse than the actual breakup. Realizing you weren’t in love anymore even though you desperately wanted to be in love and the person you thought you were going to marry and start a family with was just going to end up as one of your exes had been harrowing. Actually taking the step and ending it had hurt like hell. But then things had gradually gotten better. It had been over six months and she would have been happy to not talk about it anymore if it hadn’t suddenly turned into a matter of public interest a few weeks ago.  
“I don’t know…. I’d like to establish that I’m not some gold digging whore.”  
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, “I didn’t read about that in the papers.”  
“Oh, the reporters only call me a gold digging scarlet woman. Some of the people on the street are a bit more frank, however. It’s really not that bad,” she tried to appease him when she saw how much the idea of virtual strangers calling her a whore seemed to bother him, “And it only happened once. Well, I’m not sure we should talk about Harry too much before he has his first interview with the Quibbler next week.”  
He nodded, “We have to address the matter though, however briefly. Not mentioning it would make the interview seem like one big farce. This is only the warm up for next week anyway. Don’t worry too much.”  
He took a look at his watch and then exchanged hand signs with Matt who was still sitting at his desk outside the booth.  
“We’ll be back on air in about a minute. I’ll think of something to say. Do you trust me?”  
She nodded.  
“Good. Let’s do this.”  
oOo  
Witches and Wizards all over Britain and Ireland were listening to Lee Jordan interview Ginny Weasley, the recently scorned ex-girlfriend of famous Harry Potter.  
While they were all listening with rapt interest, it was probably safe to say nobody was listening more closely than her own mother who was sitting in the Burrow’s kitchen nervously wringing her hands.  
“Oh, my little girl. I hope Lee doesn’t do to her what he did to poor Miriam,” she said mere moments before the interview was supposed to start.  
“Don’t worry, Molly,” her husband Arthur tried to calm her down, covering her hands with his own, “You know Lee. He is a big prankster but he is a good boy.”  
Molly nodded distractedly, still looking distraught, “Yes. I should like to have him over for dinner again if he doesn’t make a fool of Ginny.”  
“Come on, Mum, it’s going to be fine,” came a muffled voice from behind the seated pair. It was only due to year-long training in deciphering her sons’ words even when they had their faces stuffed with various foods that she was able to make out what George was saying. To the untrained ear it would have sounded more like “Comphummhmphunnahmph”.  
“George, dear, swallow before you speak,” she chastised her son, turning around to level him with a stare. But he just gave her a goofy grin and popped another piece of pumpkin pie into his mouth. He had come over this morning to listen to the wireless with his parents and while Molly was always glad to have her children back home it was weird to see him without his twin.  
“Where’s Fred?” she asked, once again growing suspicious of her twin sons who still had a penchant for getting into trouble even at 28 years of age.  
George made a big show of chewing and swallowing before giving an answer, “Opening up the shop while I’m here holding hands.”  
Molly was about to tell him it was in fact his father doing the hand holding while he was only emptying her pantry, when the song that was playing on the wireless came to an end and Lee once again greeted his listeners.  
“I hope you used the last half hour of non-stop music to get ready for another Monday morning at the office or wherever it is you are headed right now. If you listened to my show last Friday you might remember me promising you an interview with a very special lady today. If you didn’t listen to me, what else have you been doing? There’s really no excuse and I’d like you to turn off your radio right now. You don’t want me on a Friday, you certainly don’t deserve me on a Monday.”  
Molly began to impatiently tab her feet. “Why does he keep talking so much? Can’t he just get straight to the point?”  
“It’s radio mom. It’s supposed to be fun. You might have heard that word before. Fred and I mention it sometimes.”  
“Everybody else – I give you Ginny Weasley. One of the best chasers the league has right now and by far the toughest woman on the pitch. She’s been very busy recently, getting ready for the season to start again, so I’m especially happy to have her here today. Welcome, Ginny.”  
“Thank you Lee, I’m glad to be here today.”  
“My baby’s on the radio! Oh, Arthur!” Molly squealed. Her daughter had been one of the most talked about players for years now and she was still overwhelmed whenever she read or heard any of Ginny’s interviews or saw her pictures in magazines.  
“Fred and I have been on Lee’s show loads of times,” George remarked, plopping down in one of the chairs around the big dinner table. The piece of pumpkin pie in his hands was long gone and replaced with a muffin.  
“Shush!”  
“Am I keeping you from important training this morning? I would hate to be the one who gets blamed when Puddlemere’s best chaser isn’t up to par for the first game.”  
They heard Ginny chuckle. “No, it’s alright. Today is our day off. We’ve been on the pitch every day for the last ten days.”  
Lee gave a low whistle. ”Wow, Ruffle isn’t joking around, is he,” he said in regard to Puddlemere’s current captain, “People, it’s a real shame that you can’t see Miss Weasley right now. You’ll just have to take my word when I say she doesn’t look like ten days’ worth of intense training. She looks great, especially considering what she has had to go through in the past few weeks.”  
Molly held on to Arthur with one hand and gripped George by the arm with the other.  
“He’s going to talk about Harry!”  
“We’ve discussed whether we should talk about this or not and decided we can’t not mention what’s been going on.”  
“Yes.”  
“So, tell me…Tabloids have been going crazy over this: Is it true that Puddlemere is thinking about buying Oliver Wood from the Ballycastle Bats?”  
Once again they could hear Ginny’s laugh through the radio and George hissed as his mother tightened her grip on his wrist.  
“I’m afraid I’m not allowed to talk about that, Lee.”  
“Ah, well. You can’t blame a guy for trying. Okay, how about you tell me about what’s been going on in your life lately? I think I’ve seen one or two headlines regarding your love life…”  
“Well…”  
“Ow, MOM! I need that arm!”  
“She’s nervous, oh Arthur!”  
“It’s alright, Molly.”  
“I have to admit it was a bit of a shock for me to find out how much people were interested in what was going on in my relationship. Headlines haven’t been very flattering, to say the last.”  
“I’m sure it must have been especially tough, considering that you’re not only being criticised by people who don’t even know you but you’ve also lost something very important to you.”  
“Yes. It’s never easy to make a decision like that. But even though it’s still news to the public Harry and I have been living with the decision for quite some time now. I honestly believe it was the best thing to end things when we did. Regarding recent news reports… I can only hope that people will move on eventually.”  
“Yes. It’s interesting how much attention people pay to things that don’t concern them personally while they are all too willing to ignore things like what’s going on at the Ministry. Maybe you should consider politics. The greater public is much more willing to forget when it comes to politicians.”  
“Yeah… No. I think I’ll stay on the pitch for now. I prefer quaffles to diplomacy.”  
“Speaking of quaffles and diplomacy. What are you looking for in a man?”  
Molly took a deep breath. “That’s it? That wasn’t so bad.”  
George shrugged, rubbing his abused wrist. “I don’t think there’s much she can say until Harry issues his statement. People are more inclined to believe him than her. Remember what happened with Hermione in their fourth year?”  
Molly turned slightly red, recalling all too clearly how she herself had shown the poor girl the cold shoulder because she had foolishly believed those reports.  
“… really just concentrating on Quidditch right now with the season coming up.”  
“Don’t be boring, Ginny. I imagine it has to be someone who can outrun you,” Lee said cryptically.  
“How do you mean?” Ginny sounded mildly amused.  
“I think I should mention at this point that Ginny and I went to Hogwarts together. I was three years her senior and used to sneak around with her brothers Fred and George who later founded Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes. We liked to test out their new inventions on unsuspecting students and one day we set up a trap in front of the Gryffindor Common Room. Unfortunately Ginny was the first to step out of the portrait hole that morning. She ended up sparkling like a diamond for the rest of the day. I didn’t think she would mind too much seeing how girls like sparkly stuff… Boy, was I wrong. Her brothers knew what to expect and managed to flee the scene of crime before I did. Ginny got a hold of me and gave me a right bollocking. You get that from your lovely mother, I think.”  
“Oh, that boy!”  
“He is right, you kno-OW! Mum!”  
“You deserved it,” Ginny laughed, “I was banned from potions that day because Professor Snape claimed he couldn’t concentrate with how ridiculous I looked. You know what I remember? What happened when you were visiting my brothers that summer. I got my revenge.”  
“As if I could ever forget that. We kept hiccupping after every third word for the rest of the week. It was very annoying.”  
“That really was a bit harsh, if you ask me.”  
“I actually rather enjoyed it once you and Fred stopped talking for a few days.”  
“Oi!”  
oOo  
Once they had gotten the topic of Harry out of the way, Ginny started to enjoy herself more. She knew that she still had a few more interviews ahead of her where her breakup would be the main topic of interest, so she was thankful when Lee started to talk about their time at Hogwarts together. They were now fifteen minutes into the interview and Lee kept pestering her to reveal what kind of men she liked. The question had made her nervous at first and she was afraid his listeners would think she really was the kind of woman the press made her out to be, jumping from one man to the other. But the way he did it was funny enough to make her relax and realize he was didn’t expect her to give any heartfelt, truthful answers. He only wanted to entertain the listeners and maybe see how far he could go.  
“You know, I’m really worried about you. With all that Quidditch training and bad rep how are we ever going to get you another date?”  
“I really don’t know. It’s a tragedy,” she answered and gave him a questioning look that was supposed to say What are you playing at?  
“I don’t mean to brag but after I was nice enough to help Miriam Fleck and Oliver Wood out of the closet so to speak, people have started suspecting I have something of a talent when it comes to helping people in the romance department.”  
She snorted. “Are you sure my brothers haven’t slipped you one or two of their Daydream Charms?”  
“Touché.” He gave her a mock salute, “I’m serious though. I could help you. Your brothers are not going to like it but I’m willing to risk my life for your happiness.”  
She knew she was probably going to regret it but she still asked, “Since you don’t seem to be accepting “no” as an answer, may I ask: How exactly are you going to help me then?”  
“Puddlemere’s first game of the season is in three weeks. How about this: We will collect date applications for you from our listeners until after the game. Then you will come back here and we will choose one lucky guy who wins a dinner date with you.”  
She wasn’t sure her manager was going to like this idea. She wasn’t sure she liked this idea. She didn’t even want to begin imagining what kind of guys would send in an “application” for a date with Harry Potter’s not very well-liked ex-girlfriend.  
Reading her panicked expression right, Lee assured her, “We’re going to throw out any applications by obvious weirdos of course.”  
“I’m not sure that’s a very good idea. I wouldn’t want to bore the poor man to death. I’m afraid I’ve spent so much time on the pitch and with my teammates that I forgot how dating works.”  
“I think there are worse things for a bloke than spending the evening with a beautiful woman who likes to talk about Quidditch.”  
There really was no getting out of it, was there? She was about to just give in when an idea struck her. Two could play at this game.  
“How about we make it a double date?”  
Lee was too much of a professional at this kind of banter to blurt out words of surprise but she could tell from his face that he hadn’t seen that one coming.  
“I have a feeling you already know who you would like to go with you on said double date.”  
“I’m starting to believe you really do have a sixth sense when it comes to dates and relationships,” she stuck out her tongue at him.  
He slowly shook his head, grinning, “So you want me to get a date as well.”  
“Sure. You want guys to apply for a date with me, let’s do the same for you then. I’m hardly the only person in this studio who deserves some happiness.”  
Lee inclined his head.  
“Okay then. Never let it be said that I’m not up for a bit of fun… You heard us, people. We just had a stroke of genius. If you’re a hot female single lady who has always dreamed of going out on a date with yours truly, send in an application! Tell me why I should go out with you. And to all responsible, independent, absolutely normal, not psychotic single guys out there…”  
Ginny rolled her eyes.  
“Send in an application for Miss Ginny Weasley. Don’t feel intimidated by her success on the Quidditch pitch, dating history or even her six brothers. This could be the chance of a lifetime! Send us an owl and tell us why you think Ginny should choose you. Anything you’d like to add, Ginny?”  
“No Montrose fans.”  
“Who would want any of those anyway?” Lee laughed.  
oOo  
“Son of a bludger!”  
The words had barely left George’s mouth when things started happening pretty fast around the Burrow: his mother smacked him upside the head and a very dishevelled looking Fred, followed by a red-faced Ron and cross-looking Bill Apparated into the kitchen.  
“We forbid it!”  
oOo  
“It could be fun.”  
Ginny choked on her pumpkin juice.  
“You’re Hermione Granger, remember? You’re supposed to tell me that it’s not very wise of me to go on a very public date so shortly after word about The Breakup got out. Especially not with some weird guy who listens to Lee’s show.”  
“You listen to Lee’s show. Everybody listens to Lee’s show. And please don’t make me sound like the bad parent who always tells you “no”,” Hermione huffed.  
It was five days after her appearance at Lee’s show and she and Hermione were at the backroom at WWW, talking. Hermione seemed to spend an awful lot of her free time at the store these days, helping with inventions and making sure nothing too outrageous and possibly illegal left the inventing room. The twins must have rubbed off on her, Ginny decided. How else could she explain this new “Just do it”-Hermione?  
Apart from her brothers who had reacted as expected – they were very much not in favour of the date idea – some people’s reactions had surprised her. Her teammates thought it was a laugh, her manager actually thought it was a fun idea, too – especially after a few magazines had started to give her more favourable reviews following the interview – and now Hermione Granger of all people was telling her that she thought it could be advisable to go out with a complete stranger while a considerable portion of Wizarding Britain watched.  
“Did you talk to Harry?”  
Ginny nodded, “His interview with the Quibbler is tomorrow and he knows they’re probably going to ask him about his opinion. He’s going to say it’s a great idea of course. I don’t know what he really thinks though.”  
Hermione gave her a sympathetic look, “I’m sure it’ll all blow over soon enough. Who knows, this mystery date might turn out to be your One.”  
“Okay, Hermione, what is wrong with you?”  
The brunette gave her a surprised look, “What do you mean?”  
“My “One”? Since when do you talk like some sappy romance novel? Oh no, don’t tell me you and Ron are back together again. Don’t make me slap you.”  
Her brother Ron and Hermione had first gotten together at the end of the war eight years ago and first broken up two years later. They had reconciled another two years later, this time lasting for all of nine months. They had been broken up for a quite some time now but sometimes Ginny was almost scared that they would one day decide to try it once more. They were explosive as best friends but they had been positively disastrous as a couple.  
“Of course not,” Hermione said decidedly. “Don’t be silly. I just think you should take a chance. You’ve been pretty miserable after your breakup but I think you’re better now and maybe ready to meet someone new. You know that Harry is my best friend but I also think that despite the fact that he’s still hurting over all this he will find someone else too in time.”  
“This is… Wow, Hermione, do you have a fever?”  
“You have a fever?” a third voice joined in on the conversation.  
The girls turned towards the door through which Fred had just entered. There had been times in the past when even Ginny wasn’t able to tell her brothers apart, but after George had lost one ear during the war he kept his hair longer. Fred on the other hand had surprisingly decided to cut it short a few months ago, making it impossible to confuse the two of them any longer.  
“Something must be up with her. She just told me she thought Lee’s idea was fun.”  
Fred’s face darkened and he crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
“Are you drunk, Hermione?”  
Hermione made a frustrated noise and threw her arms up in the air.  
“Okay, fine, it’s a terrible idea and you shouldn’t do it, Ginny. It’s not like you have much of a choice now though, do you? You already agreed to it. If you’re looking for someone to make you feel even more miserable about it, ask someone else. And you,” she pointed an angry finger at Fred, “She’s your sister, not your daughter and even if she was your daughter I’d tell you to bug off. She’s old enough to make her own decisions.”  
Fred looked at Hermione with wide eyes, “Oh my God, you are drunk!”  
“Oooooh, you…” She clearly couldn’t decide what exactly Ginny’s brother was, so she simply stalked towards the door, pushing Fred clear out of the way.  
“I’m going back to the Ministry while I still have a job there. Have a wonderful day!”  
Quickly recovering from Hermione’s outburst Fred once again turned towards his sister and said, “You do know that George, Bill, Charlie, Ron, Percy and I are going to watch your so-called date from a not so subtle distance, right?”  
“Right.”

**Author's Note:**

> End of chapter 1.


End file.
